People who don't know how to travel

I am currently on a holiday in South India, a place that has been inhabited for thousands of years and is known for the cultural heritage, if not the beauty of the land. But South India is not Europe, it is not even India's bustling cities of Delhi and Bombay. It is as far away from the common (white) tourist as possible. Now imagine meeting a white person who speaks no English in a place like this, with no research done beforehand, no maps, no phone, no basic words of Indian languages and with no knowledge of the culture and customs of South India. What they do know is that they need to reach a temple, and that they want to find a hotel that is cheap and that has food, and that they prefer to find some fellow white tourists to connect to. They are not technically homeless, but they are more helpless than most homeless people are. <br><br>The first time I saw this person was at the train station, where I was just dropped off by a hotel owner on his motorcycle. My flight was delayed, and my plan was to reach the city by 6 am. What actually happened was that I reached the city by 11 am, and my hotel reservation had expired. So I asked the only human being in the train station for help. He was a (white) foreigner too, with a backpack, and he said that he is waiting for his friend to arrive by train. Of course, he could not speak a word of the local language, and he was too scared to go outside the train station to ask for help. He was nice enough to talk to me, but for some reason, he always prioritized waiting for his friend over getting to know me, and finding a hotel, or helping me find a hotel. We spent hours together, with both of us having no idea what to do, and he could not help but complain and show his relief when his friend arrived. We parted ways and I was able to find a hotel, and the hotel owner dropped me off at the train station, where I saw this person again. <br><br>Now this person decided to travel to a city that is 200 km away, and he arrived at the train station without knowing what he was doing. He was following Google maps, but Google maps did not tell him what train to take, or at what time it would arrive at the station, or when (or if) it would leave. He had no idea what to do, and he expected India to behave like his country, and to conform to what he was used to. He was used to people speaking his language everywhere, used to eating food that he knows, used to the climate and the culture and the customs of his place, and he thought that India would be the same. I remember one time when he asked me to translate what this local person was saying, and I translated it, and he said "just another person who wants to take advantage of me". Why did he not expect this? Does he think that his country is the default, and that India is "other"? He is travelling for three years now, but the poverty of India still shocks him. I asked him if he did not do research before coming, and he said that he hates doing research. I asked him how he managed for three years without knowing a word of the local language, and he said that it was not needed to know the language. But then why did he ask me to translate his conversation to the local person? Why did he ask me if I could speak to the hotel staff in the local language? Why did he ask me to translate the menu? Why does he need me to get out of this station or talk to the locals or find anything, when he is so against doing research? <br><br>Why bother coming to India if you have no intention of interacting with the locals or even knowing their language? Why do you hate research so much? Why do you complain so much about India, and why do you still want to stay? Why do you not know anything about the culture and even the common sense of the place you are visiting, and why do you even go outside your hotel room? Why did you travel for three years without knowing basic words of Asian languages, and why did you think that India would be like your country? So many questions, and he does not have any answers. <br><br>I am writing this because I met a lot of people like him this last week. They have no idea what they are doing in another country, and they act like they are entitled to the locals to know their language and to cater to their needs. Why can they not do research and plan ahead? Why can they not speak the local language? Why can they not respect the local customs and traditions? Why can they not go back home, if they hate this place so much? I just don't get it.